Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security (FACES)

U.S. Coal and Virginia

Virginia powers America.

• Coal supplies half the electricity consumed by Americans.¹
• Virginia is the 11th largest coal-producing state in the country, producing 24.5 million tons of coal in 2008 alone.²

Virginia powers Virginia.

• Almost half of Virginia’s electricity is generated from coal.³

Virginia mining helps fuel the U.S. economy.

• In 2007, coal mining in Virginia generated more than $7.1 billion in output.⁴

Virginia families depend on coal mining for good jobs.

• Coal mining provides jobs for the long-term.
  • Coal mining in Virginia supports over 31,000 jobs⁵,  paying hundreds of millions of dollars in annual wages.
  • Virginia coal directly employs more than 9,000 people⁶ – including nearly 5,000 coal miners⁷ – throughout the state, the majority of whom are employed in Southwest Virginia.
• Coal mining jobs fuel other jobs.
  • For every coal mining job, an additional 3.5 jobs are created elsewhere in the economy.⁸

Coal mining jobs are well paid.

• The average wage for a coal worker in Virginia is about $61,000, roughly 35 percent more than the average wage for jobs in other industries in the state.⁹

Economically healthy coal mining equals a healthy community.

• Coal mining creates an economic cycle of good jobs and opportunity that benefits families and strengthens communities.
• Personal income and payroll taxes from Virginia mining jobs amounted to $763 million in tax revenue in 2007 alone¹⁰ – and millions more in property and other taxes – which in turn is invested into vital government services, such as K-12 education.

Virginia invests in protecting the environment.

• Virginia coal invests millions of dollars in coal mine land restoration, or reclamation, projects.

Surface mining is a sophisticated mining technique that is the safest way – and at times the only way – to mine coal near the surface of the earth.  It improves productivity and protects the environment.

• Surface mining operations alone provide enough energy to power more than 25 million American homes¹¹.   In Virginia, surface mining techniques yield almost a third of the state’s coal.¹²
• Before mining even begins, companies must submit – and both the government and the landowner must approve – a comprehensive land restoration and reclamation plan. Some areas are reforested, others commercially developed to improve the quality of life for residents.  For example:
  • A surface mining project in Southwest Virginia was reclaimed and converted into land that was more suitable for hay land pastures, commercial and residential development – thus rendering the property more environmentally and economically valuable.

Click Here to download a PDF version of this article

1 National Mining Association, Fast Facts about Coal. <http://nma.org/statistics/fast_facts.asp>
2 U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Report 2007, Table 6. < http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_production_mines_state_type.pdf>
3 Energy Information Administration, March 2008, Cost per kWh & Percent of Coal Generation. < http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_map_use_cost_electricity.pdf>
4 The Economic Contributions U.S. Mining in 2007 – http://nma.org/pdf/states/econ/va.pdf
5 The Economic Contributions U.S. Mining in 2007 – http://nma.org/pdf/states/econ/va.pdf
6 MSHA 2007 employment (using EIA surface & underground ratios). Note – Employment numbers include contractors and all prep plant workers. http://www.nma.org/pdf/pubs/mining_economic_report.pdf
7 Virginia Energy Patterns and Trends Electronic Database; http://www.energy.vt.edu/vept/coal/coal_prod_eia.asp
8 National Mining Association. Fast Facts about Coal. http://nma.org/statistics/fast_facts.asp.  Multiplier (3.5 avg.) from NMA Economic Contributions study (2007)
9 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
10 The Economic Contributions U.S. Mining in 2007 – http://nma.org/pdf/states/econ/va.pdf
11 National Mining Association. Mountaintop Mining Fact Book. (p.2). http://www.nma.org/pdf/fact_sheets/mtm.pdf
12 U.S. Department of Energy / Energy Information Administration < http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_production_method.pdf>